West Ham United have looked into moves for Aston Villa duo John McGinn and Ollie Watkins, according to The Daily Mail. 

The lowdown

The Hammers finished seventh in the Premier League, securing a spot in the Europa Conference League, while the Villans ended the season in 14th.

McGinn, who is valued at £27m by Transfermarkt, has three years remaining on his contract and is a key player at Villa Park, as evidenced by his 35 Premier League starts in the most recent campaign.

It's a similar story with the £31.5m-rated Watkins, who is also committed until 2025. The striker, who joined from Brentford in 2020, started 33 top-flight matches in 2021/22.

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The latest

The Daily Mail's Simon Jones reported that Irons manager David Moyes is 'juggling' a 'number of options' ahead of the summer transfer window.

Among those in his eyeline are Villa duo McGinn and Watkins, but there's an understanding at the London Stadium that 'such deals will be difficult to pull off'.

The verdict

These are two vital cogs in the Villa team, so they should do everything in their power to avoid selling them to a Premier League rival.

McGinn averaged the highest WhoScored rating in Steven Gerrard's squad last season (7.17), scoring three goals and providing four assists while also ranking in the top three for tackles, key passes, successful dribbles, fouls drawn and accurate long balls (outfielders only) per game.

Meanwhile, Watkins was comfortably the team's top scorer with 11 goals, four clear of Danny Ings. Since his arrival in the Midlands two years ago, he has impressively bagged 27 goals in all competitions.

Villa sold Jack Grealish in a British record £100m deal last summer and will surely be desperate to avoid losing more star players this summer. Gerrard wants to take the team to Europe, and the best way to do that is by improving on what he's got rather than the plugging the gaps left by high-profile outgoings.

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